Author: Sandrine Burriel

During the Summer of 2013, the Okinawa Prefectural Museum is presenting an exhibition on Biodiversity in Japan. Two OIST units have contributed material to this exhibition. The Marine Genomics Unit exhibit presents evolution through several specimens of fishes and amphibians, and illustrates the unit’s work on coral genome sequencing. The Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit exhibit introduces the ants of the Ryukyu Islands through posters and live ants that visitors can observe.

Poster for the Biodiversity in Japan exhibition at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum.

The Open Campus is the biggest event of the year at OIST! On Sunday, March 3rd, 2013, the entire Arilab was mobilized to share ant knowledge with over 4,000 visitors. Professor Economo gave a talk on The Ways of the Ants and all members of the lab, with the help of members from the Ecology and Evolution Unit, introduced the Wonders of the Ants: observing a live ant nest or preserved ants under the microscope, learning about the termite’s communication system, and watching a 3D reconstruction of an ant! Read more about this event on the OIST website, and watch the video below!

In January 2013, we inaugurated an exhibition of ant photographs in the tunnel. These high resolution posters allow OIST visitors to discover what ants look like in amazing details. See for yourself in the gallery below!

On December 16th, 2012, we relocated part of our lab in the small northern village of Kunigami to introduce the world of ants and termites to local children as well as their family members. Benoit Guénard made a presentation on social insects and later led groups in collecting ants in the vicinity. Activities also included observing ants, live and preserved, under the microscope or with the naked eye, and learning about the ants’ and termites’ way of communicating with each other thanks to pheromones. Read all about it on the OIST Website.